15.04.15
www.thebookseller.com Q&A VALERIA LUISELLI AUTHOR Come on over, Valeria
The Author of the Day, one of Mexico’s brightest stars, tells Tom Tivnan about the importance of translation, why one should not ask about the importance of Mexican literature and why the country’s literary establishment needs reforming
Tom Tivnan: Your newest book, The Story of My Teeth, is unique in that you feature translator Christina MacSweeney prominently; she even contributes a “chronology” of the novel. What was the thinking behind this? Valeria Luiselli: I have worked with Christina a lot—she translated my previous novel—so I viewed the English version of the book as a collaboration. In a way it is an entire book of collaborations; I actually started it as part of an exhibition I was commissioned to do for [Mexican fruit conglomerate] Jumex at an art gallery it has at one of its factories. The idea was to reflect on the link between the gallery’s art collection and the factory workers’ lives, and many of the stories in my new novel come from those workers’ personal accounts.
TT: Over the course of the London Book Fair you will probably be asked about the state of Mexican writing a lot . . . VL: Which is the sort of question I hate! “What is Mexican literature like? What is it like to be a Mexican writer?” I know all eyes will be on Mexico [at LBF] but we are a huge, multifaceted country with different traditions, different point of views. People don’t often ask, “What is American literature like?”, as if it is one homogenous entity; they don’t say: “What is it like being a British writer?”
TT: Er . . . that said— VL: What is it like being a Mexican writer? [Laughs] of course, there are many aspects of Mexican writing that I would love to talk about. I think there is an upswing of interest in Latin American literature in general throughout the world, stronger [interest] even than the 1980s, when there was that big surge. For which I say: thank god for the death of magical realism! Finally interring [the genre] frees Latin American writing from being pigeonholed. It has always
Q&A AUTHOR OF THE DAY
13
VALERIA LUISELLI: THE STORY SO FAR
Valeria Luiselli was born in Mexico City in 1983. She studied at UNAM in Mexico City and completed a PhD in comparative literature at Columbia University in New York City, where she now lives.
In 2012, she was named as one of the best Mexican writers under 40 by the British
Council/Hay Festival-sponsored Mexico20 project. Her first novel, Faces in the Crowd, was published in 2012; The Story of My
Teeth was published in the UK by Granta on 2nd April.
Luiselli will be in conversation with
English PEN’s Catherine Taylor at 11.30 a.m. at the English PEN Literary Salon.
been broad and vibrant—and now the world is realising that.
TT: And for Mexico specifically? VL: Mexico City is one of the most vibrant world cities of literature at the moment. There is a big scene—particularly an underground scene—of poets and writers. I think you will see the vitality of Mexican writing in London. It is a strength that we are not talking about the brand “Mexican Literature”, we are talking about talented writers who happen to be Mexican. It’s a very sophisticated books market. There are problems, though. What we really
need to talk about at LBF is the rampant sexism in the Mexican literature establishment. The Academia Mexicana de la Lengua [Mexican Academy of Letters], which is sort of like the Académie Française, has a poor history for admitting women. I think there are only three in the academy at the moment. This is the 21st century; this needs to be fixed.
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